Solar Powered Hot Water?! | Living Off-Grid ALL ELECTRIC
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2022
- We make a major step towards living all electric!
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We're a husband and wife team who bought 20 acres of bare off-grid land in Northern Idaho. Follow along as we turn a pole barn into our dream shop with an upstairs apartment!
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Riley Casey
105 Vermeer Dr
STE 2 PMB 141
Ponderay, ID 83852 
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Riley “I’m not the one you want to see in the shower” made me spit out my water 😂 that was good
I’m going in. Made me laugh. 😂
I laughed so hard at that!
I lol'd when he said that
Well done Riley, playing into it FTW! Lol
He is right.
small tip: put anything in your shop on wheels/rollers from the get go..... shelves, tables, benches, waterheater, compressor, etc
agree with that for sure after working in shops all my life.
Now that's a great idea. 😁
Hand truck?
Or if it is something you do not plan to move too often, make it so that it is easily movable by pallet jack.
So happy to see you guys with concrete!🙏🙏🙏Blessings
"Probably not the one you wanted to see in the shower", that was hilarious! 🤣🤣 Things are coming along great, nearly have all the comforts of home now!
Even if no one knows you,just by the way you treat your pets tells us how very cool you guys are!
When I watched your concrete pour I saw that they cut key ways in the slab for control joints. They did that when my house was built in Arizona. The one thing I wish I had done and would recommend you do is fill those key ways with a self leveling joint filler (still allows expansion) that they sell in the big box stores. You'll find sweeping up the shop floor way easier.
> Yeah the stuff comes in a calk gun tube and is very easy to use. It is used for sealing expansion joints in concrete paving and is very durable. Sitka.
I mentioned same thing last video. Easy to do before they move stuff in.
@@carlwest859 *Sika ?
@@franksinatra9250 Water test the grooves. The caulk doesn't settle like water and you don't want a little dam at one end. Ask me how I know.
I did that. Those tubes were like $10/$20 at Sherwin Williams. Cost me like $400 to seal all my seems! But sure was nice to clean!
Cover all your exposed hot water lines with that black pool noodle insulation, it makes a big difference in the winter. There is a pretty big heat loss in pipe runs through unheated spaces. That poly tube will still have a pretty big heat loss though nowhere nearly as large as copper or steel.
So true wrap both lines
Also in the winter not a bad idea to run water periodically or let it drip some to keep lines from freezing. You probably already have dealt this in the winter. I have been living in a travel trailer and everything freezes in the winter.
Great recommendation
I love those days where you worked ALL day (or sometimes 3 days due to previous plumbing "fixs") just to get a hot shower late in the day. After redoing all the plumbing or wiring for a new water heater or electrical snake pit on an old house that needed desperate repair. That is the most satisfying shower you will get in your whole life.
Heads up, condensate lines freeze. So if you don't want to have a puddle molding you house insulate or use a copper line with a heated wrap.
Good point!
Great point, or put your condensate to a condensate pump. Then you will not have a slow trickle that tends to freeze. The quick rush of larger volume of water will warm the plastic enough to allow it to drain before freezing in your climate zone.
@@rsecord Yes! And, you slope the plastic line down so it self drains when the condensate pump stops.
Agreed, either drain the condensate into where the waste water form the house goes, or collect it in a bucket and recycle it. In winter that line through the wall will freeze, ask me how I know.
@@rsecord Does it even need to be a pump? A simple siphon, or a Pythagorean Cup, would let you to dump the condensate in batches, all without any moving parts
Missed you yesterday (Sunday). :)
It's a surprise Monday! 😉
Don't duct the cold air outside in the winter, because outside air will get sucked into the shop to make up the lost volume. That air will probably be colder than your heat pump exhaust, at least at night.
In the cold weather the "make-up" air could be cooler than the exhaust. In the warm weather it would dehumidify the shop. On the minority case the makeup would be a thermal win.
Where this is in the shop, an extra air filter might be prudent.
Thanks for sharing!
A HRV or ERV unit is a good thing to look into. If installed I wonder if that would be a good thing to duct your water heater make-up air into.
But you can run the air intake to the high point of your building to where the warm air rises. A HPWH is all about moving heat so take advantage of the physics of heat rising and get your heat from there. That will really make a difference in summer.
I remember when y’all were walling up the bathroom and adding doors you made the comment that nobody wanted to see Riley pooping. That still holds true and seeing Riley showering is way better than seeing Riley pooping. 😂
Its so amazing to see the progress and I’m so happy the changes are making your quality of life so much better. I’m still in awe of all you both have done in such a short amount of time.
The beauty of heat pump water heaters is that if you place them in an area that gets hotter than you'd like, you can condition that space and retain the heat for your own use: garage, workshop, attic, etc. It's like having the water heater that you need regardless, and getting air conditioning in your workshop for free, and it doesn't cost any extra to provide that air conditioning.
That solar panel setup is massive. You could teach a lot to people who want to go solar.
Wild Wonderful Off-Grid has far more information about going solar.
My neighbor has 93 panels on his roof.
Most people don't have the money to buy such a system. It's expensive!
@@sighheinrich I was patient and got good deals on everything. Spent 5 thousand building a system with 27 kw of battery. I can run my 220 welder and air compressor no problem.
@@sighheinrich Actually, by shopping carefully, solar panels can cost much less. Avoid the hyped up upsellers.
There are few creature comforts, that I can think of, that compare with a hot shower in clean water under pressure. Knowing that the sun is providing the heat is even better. Well done, as always.
Between Courtney’s sound effects when Riley was fitting the end to the poly water line and the shower scene I think you should have audience rated this video. My wife was snoozing beside me and thought I was up to no good. Great content as always, thanks for the entertainment. You guys are awesome.
Congratulations guys, you've worked hard for this. Thanks for taking us along on the adventure.
I love both of you. You have motivate me to become a Pilot and a Flight instructor at my age of 64. I believe that if you can do this I can do my Dream. Thanks
You two are nailing the whole off grid while running a RUclips channel. I love the channel and watching your fearless approach to any challenge. You make it look so easy, and anyone that has done even a couple of your projects knows how much work it is. Great job, and keep amazing us.
Riley, Courtney, I watch two other highly rated off grid ‘homestead’ channels. One from Texas and one from West Virginia. Each of you have displayed extraordinary intelligence and strength in figuring out all aspects of creating a beautiful home. I am in awe! Thanks for great content! I always look forward to your channel!
Oh I think I know who yer following in West Virginia. Lol
I know the one in WV, who is the one in TX?
Wild and wonderful off grid
@@jackiejones8829 it’s called Life Uncontained, because they built an absolute dream home out of two shipping containers. Start to finish. It’s Mackenzie and Spencer and their lil girl and lil boy that they had while filming 4 years of working on their home.
Another good one is Martin Johnson - Off Grid Living . They're in Sandpoint Idaho so similar climate.
Hey guys. So glad you two are ok. When you didn’t post yesterday I thought, what if something happened to one of you. Working off grid with heavy equipment anything is possible even with people who are extra careful. So I’m grateful to see you both are good and everyone has still got all their digits. 😉
They were in the shower 🤣👽
As I sit here in Florida with no power , the Casey Way is sounding better every day !
I love this channel and this great couple. ❤
We hope your power is restored soon!
You really should build a second set of stairs on the outside just for an emergency egress. If you have a fire in that garage your stairs lead right into a corner farthest from both first floor exits. Not sure what you will be keeping in that garage, but a car fire would really put you in a bad situation if the current stairs are your only exit.
Forgive me if I missed another exit that you have. Just want you two to enjoy what you have built and stay safe.
They have 1 and 2 story immediate deployable ladders that can be mounted on the inside of the window. At about $100, that’s quicker and less costly than building another staircase.
@@randyclyde4939 That's good, I was hoping that they had a plan.
I hauled produce and meats across this country for 30 some years, Girlfriend you backed that trailer up like a professional
I Love it.❤
I know you are not a "how to" channel, but I am in awe of the way you two solve problems together and always find the best, most practical solutions to all the problems you encounter!
You are an inspiration!
Nice to hear you refer to it as a water heater. One of my pet peeves is people calling them 'hot water heaters'. Hot water doesn't need to be heated. 😆😝
Also nice to see the pup being trusted off of a tether.
I worked for American Water Heater and that was of the 1st thing I got drilled in, its a WATER HEATER.
"hot water" heater is fine - it simply tells what kind of a heater it is. It's not a hot air heater, or a glue heater, or... (We seem to be wasting copious amounts of hot air on this subject. I'll go away now.)
I usually call them a hot water tank 👍🇨🇦
Just remember that you should always have a metal stand-off pipe, copper, black iron etc. on the tanks inlet and outlets. I bet is even says it in the paperwork. It may not be code where you guys are but it is everywhere that I know of. Glad to see the concrete floors that’s awesome, and love the dozer looks fun.
I’m from the future, and you will have an office mezzanine above where you were moping and the stairs will be against the other wall 😂😂
Riley when I watch your videos of you hooking things up I think of a mad scientist in a lab .man you two get things done enjoy your hot water
That's the exact same heat pump hot water I put in two years ago. It's been great. I like I can see on the app how much electricity it's used. I average
I am now researching electric water heaters because we signed up for solar on our house. Now we are researching battery back up solutions too. I love learning new things through y’all and you have influenced a lot of decisions we have made on our home lately. Thank you for opening our eyes to new things!
Hey Brian, check into a standard water heater, change the elements to 12 volt get a harbor freight 100watt solar set and 2 golf cart 6volt batteries, if you super insulate the tank (10"to12")of the pink stuff, you will have more hot water than you can use
@@tomcharron6671 We don't know his water volume needs. Sounds like a good idea for those that use very little water.
We have a tankless water heater, but this is a great video:) showing another way to get hot water.
Heat pump is the way to go. They use a third to a fifth of power any other electric WH. Resistive elements suck way to much power.
it's not an "electric water heater" that he showed, it's a heat pump, which is electrically powered. big differences. i have a model in the same series as theirs, and unfortunately, mine's been very buggy
Ok, we got a video everything is okay with the world now
Thanks for being patient with us!
You guys are doing it right… so many other channels under engineer their solution and end up constantly chasing their energy needs wasting time over and over in a distraction of labor.
Very cool system! with all the water seeps on your mountain think about developing a spring box. im glad you guys are well.
Hey you two!! Just wanted to quickly say thank you for sharing this...totally on the same page about relying on solar rather than propane. Every "plumbing expert" we've talked to has tried to steer us away from the Rheem and go either instant propane hot water or solar hot water. This really seems like the best all around option!
Heat pump is definitely the way to go!
I installed a Rheem heat pump hot water heater (same model) it cut my water heating cost by 80% from a conventional electric. My only complaint with it is the noise it makes (49 dba while it’s running). It’s programmable so you can change the schedule if it bugs you 😊😊. It has not had any issues during the year and half it’s been in operation
Man that’s HOT!😂Was bummed on Sunday that you had not posted a new video. Let’s not make a habit of that. Worried something was wrong.
I Love the Dogs' Supervision & Overall Influence on most of your Projects! Lol
I buy a lot of tools, I upgrade all the time. I look at it as I am buying time, as I have more time to do what I enjoy if my chores take less time. I enjoy your content. thanks.
Just thoughts. Put your cisterns on the back of your garage using earth berm (flywheel effect) to prevent freezing (maybe another shipping container?) Use solar water heater (ethylene glycol) to pre heat water before the water heater. I understand you live in a colder climate but maximizing your opportunities on every level during the building should pay off. You are doing a great job. If you can capture the water off the roof of the shop, it should be plenty. As smart as you are, you probably already thought of what I proposed. I am inspired by Mike Reynolds's concepts learned building Earth Ships. Water is life, this is the most important part of being of grid. You got to do what you can for you, just ideas.
Solar hot water is very efficient and a great idea. Even at very low outdoor temps
I've had that water heater installed for almost 2 years now. I installed a thermal mixing valve and during the warm months set the water temperature to 140 to kill listeria and ducted it into the kitchen for the 'free AC'. In the winter it just cools the basement and i turn the temp down to 120. Whatever you do, don't duct it outside, you will have to heat that space, it only works on ambient air down to about 40 degrees and exhausting it outside would create a negative draw and pull the even colder outside air in. In total it burns about 1.3kW/day just sitting at 120 even if you're not home and it's in heat pump mode. With a mixing valve set at 120 and the tank at 140, with incoming water at 68deg, I was able to get about 97gallons out of it before the water went cold.
Spending time in a well thought out plan ahead with the oppurtunities you have, makes a big difference in all your descions. In the first run it looks very expensive, but in the long run it´s rewarding and sometimes giving you more back then you payed for. You two are a very smart couple.
nice to see you guys getting things moved along. One thing, every time you put a 90 in a pex (or any other) line, you cut the water pressure. Its better to just keep a gently curved loop of pex in most circumstances.
Man it drives me nuts to see all the RUclipsrs putting 90’s every few inches. They waste time money and volume.
@@Z71hosestretcher you would be surprised how many professionals do it to. All of my plumber uncles are dead or retired but even back in the all copper days, they used get for example a new customer who complained about water pressure and they found that the previous plumber who did the house did things like adding 90s to make it "look good" and so on.
There is nothing better than a hot shower after a long day of looking for your plumbing parts. LOL. Great job. BTW, I love the moondust that you guys have up there.
You guys are such great problem solvers. It is really enjoyable and impressive to watch as you overcome every obstacle. Thanks for the video!
The power run from the container to the shop 👉🏻👈🏻👍
Wow - another innovative solution. We had never heard of a heat-pump water heater, but are familiar with the technology. (We installed a mini-split HVAC system in our house last year to handle heating and cooling - works great.)
We always look forward to your next video. Keep up the good work!
Water heater temperature: watch out with only having the heater set to 120f !
Legionella bacteria thrive between 86f to 122f so I would advice to keep the water heater at a slightly higher temperature.
yep, I was coming here to comment on that also. Those new heat pump Wh's are pretty well insulated, so keeping the water at 130F degrees would be negligent in power consumption.
It has an automatic legionella prevention cycle.
Nice content! FYI, the pros call them “water heaters” and the rookies call them “hot water heaters!”
I’m an extrovert and can not imagine only having my wife to talk with most days! Neat use of technology!
Very good for you. having hot water .
I find it fascinating that folks that do what we do manage the project very different. First weekend after settling on the property I had a road cut and a septic tank installed with 3 inlets for RV dumps. Then the solar panels went up for RV, ATV and devices. Water we also hauled until October when our harvesting came on line after the shop was complete. Ours has been a super fun project, I see yours has also been a blast! Enjoy!
It will be interesting to see how the heat pump aspect works in winter. If you're keeping the shop above ~40°, it will be fine, but if you drop much below that I think it will lose efficiency quickly.
"Just a reminder , we are not a how to channel, This is a " we want to shower tonight video" I absolutely love Courtney's one liners! so funny.... ;-)
Riley, venting it out side creates 2 issues in the living envelope. 1 if you vent it, the building will become negatively pressurized, potentially drawing in colder and/or moist air (whereever it can!) that will condense on any warmer surface, including your insulation creating potential mold conditions. Second the penetration to vent is just another location for air, bugs and water to get in and out of your conditioned space. Consider just venting to the room as this will create less issues. Its great its in a large room other wise then venting to a larger interior room would be a good idea with a small air return to the room the h20 heater is in. FYI they do make these with exterior condensers but they stop work in extreme 🥶. Please note that most of the returning air will come through the Doogie door when it is open, but why risk it? :)
On the water issue ; Wondering if y'all have looked around your property for a natural spring. if you could find one above your house you could put in a spring box and gravity system....Anyways always enjoy your vids, keep living the good life
Man, you guys done done it again. By the way, I love the music selection. You guys rock!!!
You guys need to put rain gutters on both end sides of your garage elbow it into a collection in The Collector water from your roof you got your morning dues that slowly drips down eventually it end up with a full container
Love it, the small things in life are precious, ‘a hot shower’
Nice. In winter change the temp to about 102 degrees, and just use the hot tap. You will save a boatload of electric.
My water heater is at least 13 years old and it's time to replace. I didn't even know about these, and living in Florida, after doing research on these now (thank you!), I'm SOOO getting one of these to help cool my house AND be a lot more energy efficient. Thank you!
We have a tankless and was looking into this option, we off grid with kids so I wonder if it would work for our family.
Congrats! We shouldn't take water for granted!
I love the concrete pad, but I LOVE seeing the handrail on the stairs!!! I afraid that something bad was gonna happen when you both moved things up the stairs. Love the videos. All the best, John Cooke
ANOTHER fantastic vlog, giving us an insight into 1. what it's like to be off-grid and 2. your joint ingenuity into solving issues, which to you are easy and logical and to me are impossible and must be linked to the dark arts!!
Perfect husband and wife project. Thank you for sharing
LOL. 'Probably not the one you wanted to see in the shower.' That was funny! Great work!
Try putting 18 inches of 3/4" copper pipe between the water heater and any pex connections. It will he save future problems.
I've been following y'all since you built the overland camper. I believe you two can do anything you want to.
Good job guys! I didn't even know that type of water heater even existed! No brainer install, love your work! Thanks for the video!!!
All right now. Ya hooked me yesterday with the solar. Now today with the "hot water." I am a "You Tube" believer. (since 2016 from New Hampshire) . I am in awe of people like you who share their lives. Looks like you've built a solid "following." ~~~ Always respectful~~~ Always appreciating ~~~ (Wait! there is more!). What I really really appreciate is the (after instillation) follow up and ongoing narration. Very very cool. You have my attention. I am not worthy. Keep a perspective on your "famousness." Whew! Nice job guys!
You Guys are getting there. Awesome to see the off grid,
Just found this channel today and binged the last 15-20 videos. Brilliant stuff. Keep it up!
We got a similar hot water heater last year. We love it and it is great! We got a lemon in the beginning, the refrigerant leaked out but the mfgr replaced it for free under warranty. AOSmith is great, but Reehm is a great product too. Like you we got the one on the shelf. ... Congrats on all you do.
With that large roof, you should also put in guttering on both sides of the roof and route the rainwater to a few IBC totes, for great rainwater collection, and then pipe that water to a pump and filtering configuration, and then to your water heater! We do rainwater collection, here in various parts of Hawaii! Mahalo!
When you replace your missing wire nuts, I highly recommend Wago Lever Nuts. Holy cow I love those things.
I have always understood that you need to set your water tank temp high enough to kill legionnaire's disease - which is 55C/131F but I'm not sure if your system heats on demand or heats the whole tank and stores it hot.
A decent hot shower must be one of those great milestones - congratulations.
You might think about plumbing the condensate into a tank with an overflow. Don't forget to put a heat tape on it too for winter. You might consider mounting it as high a possible when you make it permanent so that it is in the warmest possible air.
Having an off grid wife is such a blessing.
AS, If you didn't know, Ryobi makes a dedicated battery-powered PEX clamp jaw. Push a button and the jaws clamp down on the stainless steel clamps. I loved using it.
Congratulations you two on getting the hot water heater installed. It was clever playing 'telephone' with the pipe to figure out which pipe was which. I never would have thought of that. Glad things are improving for you two. Thanks again for the video update.
Your shop is amazing guys!! Can't wait to see it more or less done ... Courtney, I would like to compliment your backing skills with the water trailer. Ryan would be an old man (like me) waiting for me to back it up! GREAT JOB!!
GREAT to see Boone and Bailey again ... It was a hoot see Boone hit the dog bed and keep an eye on the progress. 👏🇺🇸
As an energy efficiency auditor, we always recommend water heaters are set to 120 degrees. That’s enough to prevent harmful bacteria from developing and low enough to not overwork your water heater.
Golly, that is a very clever set up. I sit in awe of you two once again.
Awesomeness you two. That water heater is amazing. Those numbers will work well with the solar/battery system.
Keep up the adventure. It is a joy to watch you! 👍
Nice to see you using a hybrid electric water heater! I have gas at my house but I love the idea that one appliance acts as a water heater and dehumidifier/AC. It's a win/win.
I installed the same water heater right before I built our solar system. It does an amazing job even with our family of 5. I think it pulls around 750 watts on heat pump mode, and and the element are standard water heater elements. So in high demand they pull around 4.5kw. But they rarely kick on. And if someone wanted to really be stingy they could leave it in heat pump only mode. Over all it’s a great choice for solar.
Thanks for keeping it clean and Riley showing the shower. I'm glad for your progress.
I'm always so impressed by what you do. I don't think there's anything that you can't do lol.
Once again, nicely done guys! Loving your concrete floor!
I’m glad you guys are having fun
The heat pump water heater is the most efficient way to heat water with solar. Unfortunately the heat it is moving to the water comes from inside your shop so if you want a heated shop you have to replace that heat. They have monoblock air to water heat pumps that sit outside and transfer the heat to the water tank or an indirect water tank. They now make them for cold climates that will still heat water in temps down to -20C.
Garage looks great! Please keep these videos coming.
This is so cool. I’m electrifying everything in my house. I’ll be switching from a tankless gas water heater to a heat pump water heater, so it was really cool to see your install.
How much did Rheem say it would consume for the family of four?
We are off grid too and have a tankless, and this system is awesome makes me rethink some things. Good video
It's great to be able to do what you want without dealing with building inspectors.
Wow, what a beautiful relationship. Great set up but you guys go well together.
Worth the wait and bonus feature of awesome backing up skills!
Since you just connected, the heater is working the hardest it ever will. Maybe a blanket over your water storage will keep your temperature stable so your heater won't have to make up as big of difference. A consideration of a smaller gravity fed tank mounted inside where you have climate controls would help pre warm your water and keep an eye on your supply function (in case of a problem like dirt etc)
Doing all that and adding a waste heat recovery/ exchanger on the shower drain line.
Water Heater Blankets are super under-estimated. If you have a long plumbing run like I do (and it's mounted on the outside the house), the water cools down a lot before it makes it into the main living area. The plumbing is copper rather than PEX or PVC, so it cools down even faster. My old water heater had a blanket, and the new one does not. Going to have to install one.
Those IBC totes in the solar shed will be a MASSIVE thermal mass to keep things warm/cool in there!
Just a winterizing tip, that condensation drip line passing through the wall at 8:59 will need a 'heat trace' for winter use otherwise your condensation line will freeze up, backing up and spilling out onto your concrete floor.
my thought also, will it be able to drain when there is 4' of snow on that wall?
Courtney & Riley -- Just wanted to give you guys a tip that might help your new water heater last longer. When I installed my new water heater in the closet I put a new deep metal water heater pan under it and I put 3 bricks in a triangular formation inside the pan and under the water heater and I cut pieces out of an old inner tube to go on top of the bricks to act as a cushion. I did it this way so that in case the water heater relief valve ever fills the pan then the water heater will be up out of the water and the burner and controls of the water heater will not rust and stop working. I have a drain line connected to the pan that drains to the outside of the house. Other than that your installation looks great!
It is a heat pump water heater so no burner but raising it above the pan is a good idea. I think I will do that when I replace my gas water heater with a HPWH
Love the videos I enjoy watching them everytime they come out. I’m glad to have found this channel. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
Thanks for watching!
I feel so inpired by you guys. Seeing your videos when I am at home geting some rest right before to sleep is a very good moment to me and I enjoy every single minute because I would love to live offgrid and do many things like the ones you do. Thank you!